Secretary of State John Foster Dulles told a press conference here today that Israel’s application for arms has been referred to the Defense Department “for study in terms of cost and availability. He added that he had not yet received a report from the Defense Department.
Official sources felt this statement did not provide any indication of whether the State Department plans to act soon or favorably on the application. They said that after the military authorities report to Mr. Dulles on the price of the arms requested by Israel and their availability, the State Department will make its decision on approval of the list or any portion of it.
(The New York Herald-Tribune reported today from Washington that it is being suggested there that the United States may extend to Israel what would amount to a three-year credit to pay for the arms if the administration decides to fulfill the request submitted to the State Department on November 16. Officials pointed out that under the Mutual Security Act of 1954 the President is given the power to defer collection for three years of an arms bill such as would be presented to the Israeli government. The Israeli arms list was submitted in accordance with the reimbursable military assistance agreement between the United States and Israel concluded on July 1, 1952.)
At his press conference today, Secretary Dulles expressed the view that the United States, rather than the Soviet Union, possesses the initiative in the Middle East. “We have the initiative very distinctly,” he said, adding that “what we are doing is of greater long term impact.” American policies in recent years, he stated, included grants and loans of “tens of millions of dollars.” He stressed that “the long haul is better than emergency operations,” and said greater flexibility would enable the United States to deal adequately with the situation in the Middle East and that he favored a “steady and sustained” operation.
Asked about Soviet psychological gains in the Middle East, Mr. Dulles said there had been no development that requires the United States to alter the general approach to the magnitude of problems in that region. He indicated there would be no attempt to meet each individual Soviet economic aid offer as such but that concentration would continue on “long range constructive policies.” He hinted that individual Soviet offers might be traps to bring about American use of resources through countermeasures.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
